Just One Kiss
by eosdawnaurora
Summary: When Kyouko kisses Ren accidentally during a shoot, she knows nothing can ever be the same again. Prompt - crumbling walls. For Springkink. Skip Beat belongs to Yoshiki Nakamura.


_This isn't working. I can't do this anymore._ The lights were hot, the scene was set, all Kyouko had to do was not choke on this last part and they could wrap for the night. She knew she wasn't going to make this shot though, or the next. Maybe she would have to give up acting completely.

He loomed like a dark lord over her, his shadowy hand reaching out to thrust through her chest and steal her heart. All of her defenses were breached, her grudge-Kyoukos no match for him any more, though they valiantly tried to shore up the crumbling walls that surrounded that part of her that she had thought buried forever. It was all she could do not to shudder and scream.

"Cut! Miss Mogami, could you please not jump every time Mr. Tsuruga touches your shoulder," called Mr. Asase, who up to this point had been a very polite, accommodating director. This was the sixteenth take, and she had lost character to the extent she couldn't even remember her lines. This was disaster.

Mr. Tsuruga narrowed his eyes at her. He was worried, frustrated, and possibly even a little hurt. "Miss Mogami, could we talk in private for a moment?" he said, his voice very even and scarily concerned.

"Uh, um, I don't think that would be a good idea, Mr. Tsuruga," she stammered, near tears. She turned away from him and bowed toward the cameras. "Mr. Asase, I am very sorry but I am feeling extremely ill," she said to the director, seeing as she rose, the blood drain from Mr. Tsuruga's face and the crew throwing up their hands, grumbling and complaining at another flighty actress.

"Fine, we'll wrap for the night. Please be in better form tomorrow Miss Mogami. You will be able to perform tomorrow, right?" said Mr. Asase.

"I will do my best," she said and bowed and turned to leave, trying to avoid looking at Mr. Tsuruga and all the other disappointed faces around her.

Kyouko ran to her dressing room, which was thankfully empty of wardrobe assistants and make-up artists, but she knew he was following. He would catch up easily with his long legs. Still, breathing heavily, she braced herself against the door, like he was going to try to break it down. This was hell, she was in her own personal flaming pit of hell. It was all her own damn fault for befriending him.

"Why did I do it? Why?" she cried to herself, as someone started knocking on the door. It was him, she knew the way he knocked.

"Miss Mogami, let me in. We need to talk about this," he said, his voice muffled but distinct. The door creaked, and she knew he was leaning against it. He sounded flustered, but she was glad she couldn't see his face.

"Stay away! I'm sooo sorry, Mr. Tsuruga. I'm so sorry!" She was spiraling down, down, down into full panic mode.

"I told you it was alright. You said you didn't kiss me on purpose. Mr. Asase already agreed to destroy the film with the kiss on it."

He said the word. No no no no- "Go away!" Kyouko yelled in terror. The walls they were all falling in on her.

"I'm not going away."

"Please. Please just-"

"Kyouko-"

"I can't." He said her name. He said her name and all of her walls turned to sand.

"Just let me in."

She was on her knees with her arm across her face when she finally opened the door, like his light would blind her. He crouched down, drawing her into an embrace. "I'm that bad to kiss, huh?" he said, stroking her hair. Kyouko felt her spine snap straight like a whip.

"No! I mean yes! I mean- Mr. Tsuruga I'm so confused. This isn't supposed to happen," she wailed. "I've worked so hard!"

"Listen, Miss Mogami – Kyouko, listen. What do you say you cheat? Just a little." His eyes edged away from worry over to mischief, and she found herself startled and then intrigued. There was a way out of this hell?

"Cheat?"

"You're an actress, right?"

"Uh, yes... Or at least I was!" she said, her calm dissolving, beginning to wail again.

He leaned down and was now wearing something very akin to his dark lord face, which stunned her tears into submission. "How about I kiss you and we call it even? You can file this all away as an opportunity; playing pretend to gain experience as an actress. Just like what happened with Sho Fuwa, only better. Because I'm much preferable to him, don't you think?"

Was he really bringing that up again? Of course, he loved to torment her. "What? How is that cheating when-" She chomped down on her lip hard enough to hurt, to keep from saying what almost came out of her mouth.

"When what?" Mr. Tsuruga looked amused, as if he could see right through her.

_When it's exactly what I want_, she thought. "That would make things even worse!" Her arms flailed out, and her grudge-Kyoukos were flopping in confused circles around them.

"Would it?"

"Mr. Tsuruga," she pleaded.

"Would it really ruin everything? It doesn't have to mean anything at all if you don't want it to." He obviously thought he was being fair, but she didn't want him to kiss her if he didn't really want to. The thought was so horrible and wrong and Kyouko wanted to drill a hole through the tile, down and down until she got to the center of the earth and burned to a cinder in hell.

She was sitting on the floor though, her costume wrinkled and dirty while Mr. Tsuruga's hands rested lightly on her shoulders, she felt as if she were being pressed harder and harder into a corner. "I just don't want- I don't want to be one of those girls. You've taught me so much and I feel like I've taken advantage of your generosity." She noticed with irritation, that his expression was so relaxed they might have been talking about the weather or what they'd had for breakfast. "Why are you being so calm about this?"

His eyes went wide, surprised, and his mouth pulled into a smirk that she suspected was resting on the brink of laughter. "I'm just glad you're talking to me. After the shoot this afternoon, I thought I must have grown horns and a third eye or something."

"Never! No you're still as horrifyingly beautiful as the first time I met you," she said.

He grimaced and laughed, letting his hands fall away. "I guess that's a compliment. Listen, I think we're both very tired," he said, reaching in his pocket and pulling out his jingling car keys, holding them up to the light. "Why don't we both get changed and I'll take you home." He leaned down and kissed her softly on the mouth, while she was distracted by the shining silver of his keys. It was over too quick - he'd caught her by surprise, just like she'd caught him. While she was still dazzled and dazed, he stood up and reached his hand out to help her stand.

"Mr. Tsuruga?" She knew she was a pathetic excuse for a woman – but he was the one who had cheated! Did a kiss like that actually count? Her heart was galloping like it was going to leap out and make an ungodly mess on the floor. Or maybe that was her stomach. Kyouko took his hand, but it was a moment before her body realized it was supposed to move, even then she stood like a statue by the door.

"If that wasn't enough, I guess you'll have to kiss me again." he said, and smiled and turned away, leaving her staring. "I'll meet you in the lounge," he said over his shoulder.


End file.
